Endangered white rhino dies at San Diego-area zoo SAN DIEGO — One of only four northern white rhinos believed left in the world died Sunday at San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Nola, a 41-year-old female who has been at the park since 1989, was euthanized after her health took a turn for the worse, a zoo statement said. The geriatric rhino had arthritis and other ailments and was being treated for a bacterial infection linked to an abscess in her hip. Nola had surgery on Nov. 13 to drain the abscess...

Fate of terror mastermind unclear after raidSAINT-DENIS, France — The hunt for the mastermind of last week’s attacks took a bloody turn Wednesday to a Paris suburb where a fierce gunbattle with police left at least two people dead and eight arrested. The fate of the alleged ringleader was unclear, with authorities saying he was not taken alive and they were trying to determine if he died in the raid. Police launched the operation after receiving information from tapped phone calls, surv...

Plan for Olympic village on shaky groundLOS ANGELES — Los Angeles’ proposed Olympic village might need a new address. Less than three months after the city was selected as the U.S. candidate for the 2024 Olympic Games, plans to build a sprawling community for 17,000 athletes near downtown appeared to be in doubt and a search is underway for possible alternatives. The committee steering the city’s bid had proposed a $1 billion development on a rail yard where thousands of athletes wo...

France vows to punish IS for Paris attacks that kill 127 PARIS (AP) — French President Francois Hollande vowed to attack the Islamic State group without mercy as the jihadist group admitted responsibility Saturday for orchestrating the deadliest attacks on France since World War II. He said at least 127 people died Friday night in shootings at Paris cafes, suicide bombings near France's national stadium and a hostage-taking inside a concert hall. Another 200 or so were injured, dozens critically. Ho...

Pope steady despite taxing month of scandalsVATICAN CITY — The Vatican is no stranger to drama, intrigue or scandal. But even by Vatican standards, this has been one hell of a month. Ever since Pope Francis returned from his triumphant visit to the United States, nearly every day has brought surreal revelations of bishops behaving badly, cardinals resisting reform and ideological battles over everything from the theology of marriage to the Vatican’s cigarette sales. By Wednesday, the Va...

Beer merger won’t bring rivals togetherLONDON — The world’s two biggest beer makers will join forces to create a company that produces almost a third of the world’s beer. But in the U.S., the deal will not bring arch rivals Budweiser and Miller under the same roof. Budweiser maker AB InBev announced Wednesday a final agreement to buy SABMiller for $107 billion. To ease concerns the brewing behemoth might get a stranglehold of the U.S. market, SABMiller will sell its 58 percent stak...

U of O enters into partnerships with French universitiesCLARKSVILLE — University of the Ozarks has recently forged academic partnerships with a pair of universities in France. U of O President Richard L. Dunsworth and Director of International Programs Florence Galy Lebois traveled to France in October to sign international agreements with the Paris School of Business (PSB) and ISCPA, a journalism and communications university with campuses in Paris, Lyon and Toulouse, France. Under the agreements,...

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FOR THE COURIER / SubmittedThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Presidents of China, Taiwan meet for 1st time, shake handsSINGAPORE — The leaders of China and Taiwan met Saturday for the first time since the formerly bitter Cold War foes split amid civil war 66 years ago, and though no concrete agreement resulted, both hailed the meeting as a sign of a new stability in relations. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou came together on neutral ground in the Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore, walking toward each other in a hotel bal...

Russian plane’s cockpit recording reveals noise during last secondCAIRO — A noise was heard in the last second of the cockpit voice recording from the Russian plane that crashed last week in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the head of the joint investigation team said Saturday, bolstering U.S. and British suspicions that the plane was brought down by a bomb. However, Ayman el-Muqadem warned it was too early to say what caused the plane to apparently break up in mid-flight. Analysis of the noise was underway. “All s...

Vatican denies pope is ill after newspaper reportVATICAN CITY — The Vatican on Wednesday denied Pope Francis is in ill health, saying his head is “absolutely perfect” after an Italian newspaper reported he has a small, curable brain tumor. The Japanese brain cancer specialist identified in the report as having made the diagnosis denied having ever examined the pontiff. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the report in the National Daily was “completely unfounded and serio...

Polish army checks site of alleged tunnel with Nazi train WARSAW, Poland — The Polish military on Monday deployed chemical, radiation and explosives experts to a site in southwestern Poland where a Nazi train allegedly missing since World War II could be located. Tomasz Smolarz, the governor of Lower Silesia, said the aim of the work in the town of Walbrzych is to exclude any danger for residents. He said the experts will continue their technical checks through Saturday. The military's efforts come a...

Over 700 killed when crowds of pilgrims collideMINA, Saudi Arabia — Two giant waves of Muslim pilgrims collided at an intersection Thursday near a holy site in Saudi Arabia, and more than 700 people were crushed and trampled to death in the worst disaster at the hajj in a quarter-century. “People were climbing over one another just to breathe,” said Abdullah Lotfy of Egypt. “It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go back.” The hajj, which drew 2 million people from over 180 co...

E.U. takes steps to aid refugeesBRUSSELS — European Union leaders, faced with a staggering migration crisis and deep divisions over how to tackle it, managed to agree early Thursday to send 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to international agencies helping refugees at camps near their home countries. The leaders also agreed to set up “hotspots” by the end of November where EU experts can quickly register and identify people eligible for refugee protection, said European Counci...

Migrants, cops clash at borderHORGOS, Serbia — Baton-wielding Hungarian riot police unleashed tear gas and water cannons against hundreds of migrants Wednesday after they broke through a razor-wire fence and tried to surge into the country from Serbia. Crying children fled the acrid smoke and dozens of people were injured in the chaos. With their path blocked, hundreds of other asylum-seekers turned to a longer, more arduous path to Western Europe through Croatia, where of...

Quake rattles Chilean capitalSANTIAGO, Chile — A major earthquake just off the Chilean shore killed five people, forced 1 million to evacuate and shook the Earth so strongly the tremor was felt across South America. Several coastal towns were flooded from small tsunami waves set off by the quake. The magnitude-8.3 quake that hit off northern Chile on Wednesday night lasted for three minutes, causing buildings to sway in the capital of Santiago and prompting authorities to...

Pope simplifies annulment processVATICAN CITY — Pope Francis radically reformed the process for annulling marriages Tuesday, overhauling 300 years of church practice by creating a new fast-track annulment and doing away with an automatic appeal that often slowed the process down. The move, which came a week after he said he was letting all rank-and-file priests grant absolution to women who have had abortions, was further evidence of his desire to make the church more respons...

Dems clinch critical votes for Iran nuclear dealAssociated Press WASHINGTON — Pressing their advantage, the White House and insistent Senate Democrats locked up the votes Tuesday to frustrate attempts by outraged Republicans to pass a legislative rebuke to the Iran nuclear accord. Four previously undeclared Senate Democrats — Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Gary Peters of Michigan and Maria Cantwell of Washington state — announced their support for the international ...

Obama seals Iran deal win in CongressWASHINGTON — Overcoming ferocious opposition, President Barack Obama secured a legacy-defining foreign policy victory Wednesday as Senate Democrats clinched the necessary votes to ensure the Iran nuclear agreement survives in Congress. The decisive 34th commitment came from Maryland Democrat Barbara Mikulski, who is retiring next year after three decades in the Senate. In a statement she said “no deal is perfect, especially one negotiated with...

Pope: Priests in Holy Year can absolve ‘sin of abortion’VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is applying his vision of a merciful church to women who have had abortions, easing their path toward forgiveness and saying he realizes some felt they had no choice but to make “this agonizing and painful decision.” In a letter published Tuesday by the Holy See, Francis said he was allowing all rank-and-file priests to grant absolution during the Holy Year of Mercy he has proclaimed, which runs Dec. 8, 2015 until N...

Health, election work elevated Jimmy Carter after U.S. presidencyATLANTA — To Azaratu Zakaria, Jimmy Carter’s battle against the Guinea worm is represented by a scar. Zakaria was the last person to be declared disease-free in Ghana after more than 20 years of work spearheaded by the former president’s humanitarian organization, The Carter Center. Zakaria, who is in her 40s, said she and her family have prayed every day since Carter announced this month that cancer has spread to his brain and forced him to s...